A shooter killed one person and injured another before turning the gun on himself Tuesday afternoon at the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office in the Stemmons Corridor, county officials confirmed.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said two medical examiner’s office workers were struck by the shooter, who later committed suicide, at the office at 2355 N. Stemmons Freeway near Wycliff Avenue.
One of the employees was killed and the condition of the other was not immediately known.
The Dallas County Sheriff’s Department said the report of the shooting arrived around 4:45 p.m. and multiple agencies responded.
“We believe there is an employee here who is involved in this – we believe one of the deceased subjects was indeed an employee,” Sheriff Marian Brown said, adding that authorities had found a man and a woman. female victims.
Jenkins said officials were not immediately releasing the names of those involved, pending notification from their next of kin.
The medical examiner’s office is overseen by the sheriff’s department and county marshals, Brown said.
“We are able to say that we are not looking for any suspects at this time,” the sheriff said. “There is no need for the community to be alarmed.”
The sheriff’s department is investigating the shooting. Dr. Jeffrey Barnard, the Dallas County Medical Examiner, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dr. Philip Huang, Dallas County Health and Human Services Director, said that to his knowledge everyone was safe inside the Health and Human Services building, which is adjacent to the medical examiner’s office.
Teresa Santoyo, who works on the third floor of the health and human services building, said she was among about 50 people still present when authorities evacuated the facility around 5 p.m.
She was the last person on her floor, and she had just left her office and entered the elevator. She said she knew something was wrong when she was met by four armed officers.
“I try to calm my nerves; it was quite traumatic,” Santoyo said.
She and about 50 other employees were taken to the front of the building by authorities, where they were not allowed to leave the premises for about an hour, Santoyo said.
“As soon as I walked through that front door, I saw all the chaos,” she said, adding that there were many law enforcement vehicles and angry people. “I had a little panic attack for a minute.”
Two news helicopters hovered above the scene as people waited for their loved ones across the street. Santoyo’s daughter, Kristian Santoyo, said she was on her way to pick up her mother when she called to tell her people weren’t allowed to leave the building unless questioned.
Employees appeared to leave the building around 6 p.m. About a dozen vehicles drove off after a law enforcement officer moved a traffic cone.
The shooting comes about two weeks after a gunman opened fire inside Dallas Methodist Medical Center, killing a nurse and a social worker. The alleged shooter, Nestor Hernandez, faces charges of capital murder and aggravated assault against a peace officer.
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